It's Been an Awesome Opportunity to Serve the Lord in Honduras

07/27/2015

Well just to start off, one of the kes on this computer doesnt work.. so if ou can figure it out ou win the prize.

So this week was prett good.. just reall tiring.  Sunda was prett long ha ha.  but this week was prett good because we had an activit with the ward.  We had planned to have a movie night and see Meet the Mormons with the members and have them invite people.  It’s alwas prett stressful to plan an activit but we did it and it came out fine.  We ended up having 80 people come!  The onl bad part was that I didn’t even get to see the movie because the four missionaries in the ward were all passing out popcorn and soda during the whole movie.  So I still have et to see the movie ha ha.  So things went well for our activit.

Other than that, I don’t have much else to sa.  It’s the last week of m mission... other than that.... nothing exciting ha ha. It’s just prett craz to think about all that has changed.  It’s been an awesome opportunit to come and serve the Lord in Honduras.  And I know I haven’t done everthing perfect, but I have tried to do m best, and I was able to improve in a lot of things.  So I guess this last week, I’m just going to tr and forget that it’s actuall m last week and just put it all out on the line. I hope to be able to just work hard, focus, and worr about going home when I actuall have to do it. ha ha.  So wish me luck! 

Elder Ollis

p.s. If ou haven’t figured it out et, the letter missing is y ha ha

In a letter to Draper’s Dad:  Yes, I believe that I did bring more than one soul unto Christ, and most importantly myself too.  Dad, I love this gospel, I love the scriptures, I love serving and I hope I get a calling soon, I love teaching. I love the Mormon Messages, conference, thinking about serving in the church, and all of that.  It motivates me to always read the scriptures, pray, and strive to be more spiritual.  I just don’t want to lose that focus when I get home.

07/27/2015 - Elder Ollis and his three amigos

How Great is His Joy for the Soul That Repents

07/20/2015

Well I don’t have a ton of time right now.  We had a pretty crazy day and I don’t have much to say.  This week was pretty normal again.  My comp and I are just trying to find more people to teach, trying to talk to more people.  It’s always a challenge for me for some reason.  It just gets really tiring listening to the same excuses from the people about why they don’t want to listen to us.  Sometimes I wish they would just tell us straight up, no.  One of the challenges of serving in Honduras, but it’s coming along.  

We had an investigator, named Raquel, who has been a big challenge for us.  We have been doubting if she has a testimony.  She’s had a lot of doubts and at the same time she doesn’t remember what we teach after a week.  So we haven’t been really sure about what to do with her.  But yesterday she mentioned that she didn’t have any doubts.  We talked about some of the things that were a challenge for her and she was fine with it all.  So I think she might be getting baptized soon which is pretty cool.  Get one more in… ha ha

We have interviews with President Dester tomorrow, which is always a good experience. I’m looking forward to learning from him.  President Dester is pretty much the best mission president ever. I don’t care what anyone else says of their mission president.  He’s seriously one of the most Christ like people I have ever met.

Anyway, as I was reading the Book of Mormon these past few weeks, I got into the part where the signs of the death of Christ are shown in the Americas, and the people hear the voice of Christ in the darkness.  In those chapters and a little later too, it stuck out to me how many times Christ mentioned that we had to repent and come unto Him.  It was pretty interesting to see how many times he said it.  Really, it shows the love that He has for us.  Christ really wants us to come unto Him, to use His atonement to be able to become like Him and live eternally with our Father in Heaven.  He wants us take advantage of His gift.  The scriptures talk about how God is happy when a soul repents.  Doctrine and Covenants 18 verse 13 says... in my translation, which isn’t exact.... “and how great is His joy for the soul that repents.”    I often times, as a perfectionist, think of God as exacting and just.  And He is, but at the same time He has more mercy than we know.  That’s why He gives us the opportunity to repent and rejoices when we use it.  So we should repent no matter how hard it is, and we will come to be more like our brother Jesus Christ.

Elder Ollis

7/20/2015 - Exploring a cave with the zone

06/2015 - The top of the peak on a hike with the zone (I believe this is from his last area)

Swallowed Up in the Joy of Christ

07/13/2015

Well another week has come and gone. Not many left.  Weird. This week was pretty good.  My comp and I are just working hard trying to get things going.  We don’t have too many people progressing which a little frustrating, but we are trying to find more people to teach.  So I hope things pick up there.  I don’t have too much more to say about the work.  We have found a couple of people who seem pretty interested and I hope they progress. 

I just wanted to share a small thought today. My lovely mother reminded me of this today. She mentioned a scripture in Alma Chapter 31:  “and the Lord provided for them….and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ.  Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith.”

It reminded me of a small thought that I wrote in my study journal when I read this scripture.  I reflected a little bit on the mission I’ve had when I read it.  I thought about how I had suffered a few afflictions... the heat, frustration with a companion, people, dangerous areas, sickness… a few things.  And then I thought about the other part, about all that being “swallowed up in the joy of Christ.”  This scripture describes my mission experience very well.  I’ve had problems, challenges and afflictions, but all of that has been swallowed up by those small moments of happiness… when someone reads the Book of Mormon,  when someone gets baptized, when we find a convert who is still continuing faithful.  I’ve said more than a few times that the mission is the hardest two years I’ve had in my life, but I’ve never been happier!  I don’t know how to explain it.  But Alma does, ha ha.  

All the challenges of the mission have been swallowed up in the joy of Christ and I have been able to feel that.  It’s not all the time, but when I feel it, it’s great.  I won’t try to describe, sorry.  The Lord has definitely strengthened me since the first day I got here. I’ve been able to experience what Alma did, in my own mission. And the mission is awesome! So just that little thought for today. 

Elder Ollis

Father in Heaven Will Help Us Walk in the Best Path for Us

07/06/2015

06/24/2015 - Villanueva and the Sugar Cane Fields

Well, this week was pretty great, it being the Fourth of July and all.  And yes, I did wear my tie with the American flag on it... always supporting.   On a rather sad note... I may be retiring the cowboy boots I’ve been wearing for nine months straight. The inside is shot and it’s cutting up my feet, ha ha, so sad day.

Other than that my comp and I are just working hard trying to find new people to teach. The other day we didn’t have anything to do basically, so we were just walking around trying to find out where to go and who to talk to.  We went to some house and the lady just let us in.  It was just a little miracle for the day for me. Right as I was thinking where do we go... we went there and she let us in.

07/01/2015 - Sugar Cane Fields up close

But there was another miracle for me this week.  We have an investigator that is a bit of a challenge.  We think she might have some learning disabilities.  When I got to the area she was supposed to get baptized this Saturday that just passed.  We just had a few more things to teach her to prepare her for the interview.  So we went to teach the few remaining things and we ran into a big problem.  This investigator, named Raquel, gets nervous and scared when someone talks about the dead. So naturally when we taught about baptisms for the dead, she didn’t like it.  She wasn’t against it, but she was just afraid of the whole concept and the temple.  We explained for a long while... but we didn’t know if we should go on with the interview or not.  I didn’t feel like we should, but my comp felt differently, so we didn’t know what to do.  So we prayed about it.  We both meditated for a bit then talked to each other about how we felt, and amazingly the Lord sent us the same impressions.  We both had felt impressed to read D&C 20:37, and we both felt the impression that fear is the enemy of faith and that we should wait for the baptism and prepare this investigator more.  

It was just a testimony to me that God knows best what His children need.  It also was a faith builder for me that we can receive inspiration and guidance from God.  This is His work, and He guided us. It was amazing to see that he answered both my comp and me, by guiding us to the same things, even though we had different opinions at first.  I know the spirit is real and that we have to listen carefully to feel its influence. But as we do…we can be guided by an all-knowing and all-wise Father in Heaven who will help us walk in the best path for us.  But we must seek him through prayer and study and put ourselves in places to feel His spirit.

Love, Elder Ollis

Explanation of the pictures: “An attempt at a selfie with a sheep, and little scenic view of some of the areas in our zone.”

06/30/2015 - Selfie with a Sheep

06/25/2015 - Basically I walk up and down hills all day!

06/30/2015 - Another Look at Villanueva

Redeeming Love...the Motivation Behind Christ's Atonement

06/29/2015

Well people, sorry but just another short letter this week.  I had changes again and I’m here in Villanueva. My new comp’s name is Elder Paau, and he’s from Guatemala. Basically I’m super glad I had changes.  My comp is awesome, the area is a little bit cooler, and it’s really awesome because there’s a bunch of fields and a bunch of people wear cowboy hats... its kinda like Heber, Utah, just a little more city-ish.  So pretty cool.  And I’m basically just trying to figure out everything in in my new area so not much to write.

But things are good.  My comp and I have made some goals and we’ve been working to meet them.  We made a goal to use the Book of Mormon more when we contact, just something that I haven’t done so much. So we are going to work on that and see how it goes, and hopefully see some miracles!  But yah I’m pretty happy with the changes. I’ve already been able to do some things better that I hadn’t done so well through my mission, and try new things at the same time.  So I’m excited to work in my new area and work with my comp.  

We should have a baptism this Saturday. I don’t really know the investigator that well. Her name is Raquel and she is a little weird. She likes to test the missionaries.  When I got there, she tested me on the fall of Adam and Eve.  Then I explained it and she was like.. yah, its just like the other elder explained. Just a little different I guess.  We are also teaching a semi-orthodox Jew... another out of the ordinary part.  But anyway, that’s about all I’ve got.

I just wanted to share a little thought I had while I was studying the Book of Mormon this morning.  The phrase “redeeming love” stuck out to me. I was thinking about what it is, and I don’t know if this right or not.. but to me it’s the love that was the motivation behind Christ’s atonement. That is redeeming love.  Because of the love He showed by taking upon him all our sins, we can be redeemed from death both temporal and spiritual.  How grateful we should be for that love.  Just something I hadn’t thought of before... so that’s all! 

Love, Elder Ollis